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Interpol were in the background when Joey put the moves on his
Friend Rachel. George Palathingal gets the goss.

INTERPOLEnmore Theatre, 130 Enmore Road, NewtownJuly 31, 8pm$58.40Bookings 9550 3666The July 29 show is sold out. The new Interpol track
Direction can be heard exclusively on the recently
released album Six Feet Under: Everything Ends.
Antics is out now

There's a certain thrill to be had from hearing music by an
underground band on a major TV show.

Many would have been excited to hear tracks from Turn on the
Bright Lights, the stylish, sexy and ominously dark 2002 debut
from New York alt-rockers Interpol, during an episode of the
stylish, sexy and ominously dark Six Feet Under.

The elegant four-piece are such fans of the acclaimed American
series they have even recorded a new song, titled Direction,
exclusively for a forthcoming episode.

But you can bet the few Interpol fans who admit to watching
upbeat and uncool uber-sitcom Friends probably choked on
their red wine when they heard the untitled opener from Bright
Lights on that show.

"Yeah," says Interpol's bass player, Carlos Dengler, with a
chuckle.

"We were surprised, too.

"It's actually during an extremely, extremely focal point of the
entire series. It's used very dramatically and very, um ... it's
used wonderfully, actually, in terms of what's going on."

It's the scene at the end of the show's penultimate series
where, after much internal conflict regarding his best friend
Ross's feelings, Joey makes a move on his friend's ex, Rachel.
Don't smirk. Even the ice-cool Dengler knows who these characters
are.

"Like, Joey comes back to the room and is waiting for Rachel and
so forth," he says. "I think people find it strange that we were
part of such a mainstream phenomenon. I don't find it so strange
once you see it."

With their second album, Interpol have taken another step
towards mainstream acceptance. Antics could easily have
retrodden the same ground as its predecessor, but 31-year-old
Dengler and bandmates Paul Banks (vocals, guitar), Daniel Kessler
(guitar) and Sam Fogarino (drums) instead made an album that many
have found more direct than Bright Lights.

"There was more of a consciousness of making sure that the tones
on the record were brighter and crisper, but that was, like, more
of a production style kind of concern," Dengler says. "The songs
themselves weren't created with any kind of anticipation of needing
to fulfil any kind of needs of the mainstream or anything like
that. I mean, we would never, ever write to appease or please a
certain group of people because that would completely interfere
with the legitimacy of the group's music, which is something that
we pride ourselves in, actually."

Protecting their credibility is one thing, but the band have
also inadvertently restored legitimacy to at least one dodgy
musical genre. With their dark suits, sun-dodging complexions and
brooding, often melancholy guitar music, Interpol have brought a
fair few goth rockers out of their coffins.

"I mean we've never come out and said we're goth rock or we're
post-goth rock or we're anything," Dengler says.

"Like, one of the last things we want to do is put a category
around ourselves. But we've heard that name being sort of thrown
about in relation to us. And, y'know, I think the goth scene is
probably in need of a lot of legitimising! If we're there to do
that by accident then so be it."

Interpol, of course, dress far too coolly to be goths. Dengler's
distinctive Dracula-goes-Nazi look has often been singled out -
this is a man with a severe Hitler haircut who keeps his cigarettes
in a shoulder holster - but he isn't comfortable talking about
it.

"That's stuff that I really do consider to be the, uh ... the
purview of journalists and, y'know, observers and columnists and so
forth. I'm not part of that world so I kind of just need to do my
thing. I do it with some degree of self-consciousness but not to
the extent that I can sort of talk about it with anybody. With all
due respect."